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Gigolo
A gigolo is a male escort or social companion who is supported by a woman in a continuing relationship, Merriam-Webster Dictionary often living in her residence or having to be present at her beck and call. The gigolo is expected to provide companionship, to serve as a consistent escort with good manners and social skills, and often to serve as a dancing partner as required by the woman in exchange for the support. Many gifts such as expensive clothing and an automobile to drive may be lavished upon him. The relationship may include sexual services as well, when he also would be referred to as a "kept man". , Word Reference, accessed February 14, 2013. Origins The term gigolo usually implies a man who adopts a lifestyle consisting of a number of such relationships serially, rather than having other means of support.Otterman, Sharon, , The Lede, March 9, 2009, News, The New York Times, February 14, 2013.Dahlkamp,Jürgen, Röbel,Sven, and Smoltczyk, Alexander, , Spiegel Online International, accessed February 14, 2013. The word gigolo may be traced to a first usage in English as a neologism during the 1920s as a back-formation from a French word, gigolette, a woman hired as a dancing partner. Both gigolo and gigolette were first recorded in French in the middle part of the nineteenth century, in reference to dance club denizens in Montmartre who were paid to dance with, and sometimes have sex with, unaccompanied male visitors. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, particularly after the scandalous murder case known in Paris as the Pranzini Affair, the term gigolo took on connotations of the exotic, foreign male whose company and affections could be purchased by well-to-do French women.Freundschuh, Aaron. The Courtesan and the Gigolo: The Murders in the Rue Montaigne and the Dark Side of Empire in Nineteenth-Century Paris (2017, Stanford University Press) In popular culture Films * Gigolo (1926) - American silent romance drama film produced by Cecil B. DeMille * Just a Gigolo (1931) - American romantic comedy directed by Jack Conway, starring William Haines, Irene Purcell, C. Aubrey Smith and Ray Milland * Evenings for Sale (1932) - American romantic comedy, starring Herbert Marshall, Sari Maritza, Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland * The Gigolo (1960) - French romantic drama film written and directed by Jacques Deray. It is loosely based on the novel Le Gigolo written by Jacques Robert * Just a Gigolo (1978) - West German film directed by David Hemmings and starring David Bowie * American Gigolo (1980) - American romantic crime film written and directed by Paul Schrader, and starring Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton & Hector Elizondo * Galactic Gigolo (1987) - American science-fiction comedy film directed by Gorman Bechard * Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) - American sex comedy film starring Rob Schneider, followed by the 2005 sequel Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo * The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003) - American television film remake of the 1961 film of the same name. Directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, it stars Helen Mirren and Brian Dennehy * The Gigolos (2005) British comedy film directed by Richard Bracewell, starring Sacha Tarter, Ben Willbond, and Susannah York * A French Gigolo (2008) - French drama film directed by Josiane Balasko and starring Nathalie Baye. It was based on the novel "Cliente" by Josiane Balasko * Spread (2009) - American sex comedy film directed by David Mackenzie, starring Ashton Kutcher and Anne Heche. It was also released as L.A. Gigolo * Fading Gigolo (2013) - American comedy film directed, written by, and starring John Turturro, co-starring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone & Sofia Vergara * The Gigolo (Chinese: 鴨王) (2015) - Hong Kong erotic drama film directed and written by Au Cheuk-man and starring Dominic Ho and Candy Yuen, followed by the 2016 sequel The Gigolo 2 (Chinese: 鴨王2) Music * "I'm a Gigolo" - 1929 Broadway show tune by Cole Porter, written for the revue Wake Up and Dream * "Just a Gigolo" - adapted by Irving Caesar in 1929 from the Austrian tango "Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo" * "The Gigolo" - 1966 album by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan * "Gigolo Aunt" - song by Syd Barrett, from his 1970 album, Barrett. * "Gigolo" - 1981 dance single released by R&B singer Mary Wells * Gigolo Aunts - American power pop band, formed in 1981 by Steve Hurley, Dave Gibbs, Phil Hurley, and Paul Brouwer * "Gigolo" - 1987 single by The Damned * "Gigolo" - a song recorded in 1991 by Liz Phair later rerecorded as "Can't Get Out of What I'm Into" for her album Somebody's Miracle * "Gigolo" - 2006 song by Greek singer Helena Paparizou TV series * Just a Gigolo (1993) - British sitcom starring Tony Slattery * Gigolos (2011 – present) - American reality television series about the lives of five male escorts in Las Vegas Novels * The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1950) - Tennessee Williams * Le Gigolo (1959) - Jacques Robert * Cliente (2004) - Josiane Balasko See also * Male prostitution * Male prostitution in the arts * Female sex tourism * Escort agency * "Just a Gigolo" * Prostitution * Call girl References Further reading * Category:General articles